SITE OVERVIEW ♦ KANSAS CITY | MISSOURI
Target Area: Prospect Corridor• Population: 14,300
Fiscal Agent: Kansas City Metropolitan Crime Commission
Research Partner: University of Missouri-Kansas City, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice
Crime Concerns: Aggravated assaults, homicides, robberies, and other violent crimes
BCJI Funding Year: 2013 Planning & Implementation
Neighborhood Profile
The Prospect Corridor area of Kansas City has come to be known as unsafe, with one of the highest crime rates in the city. Between 2008 and 2012, 48 homicides, 45 rapes, 436 robberies, and 713 aggravated assaults occurred within its boundaries. The community is also characterized by a high concentration of vacant and abandoned properties, with nearly a third of the area’s housing units vacant. Crime and fear have caused community disinvestment including population loss (four percent since 2000) and business closings. Many of those leaving have cited neighborhood crime and blight as the cause of their departure. The BCJI effort focused on a 1.6 mile area in the corridor with some of the worst hot spots for violent crime.
Planning Process
The Kansas City BCJI planning group included the Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, the Kansas City Police Department, LISC, the KC Metropolitan Crime Commission, the City Prosecutor’s Office and the Center for Conflict Resolution – all working with researchers at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Together they involved residents of the Prospect Corridor area in focus groups and other meetings where they helped discuss crime drivers and explore potential strategies. The analysis included an examination of local temporal patterns of crime, the physical and economic environment, and the community’s perceptions of its crime problems. Findings confirmed four distinct hotspots within the focus area which collectively generated sixty percent of the area’s homicides, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults in 2012, or nearly a quarter of reported crimes. The majority of violent incidents in these hot spots and surrounding areas were perpetrated by a relatively small number of chronic offenders; this affirmed the work of the No Violence Alliance (NoVA) to launch focused deterrence approaches to violence reduction, which the BCJI process has ultimately supported and enhanced.
Concerned about high levels of violence, residents expressed a desire for increased levels of individual, community and institutional participation in improving conditions, such as accountability for negligent land owners, expanded re-entry and mental illness resources, and strategies to reduce loitering and homelessness. According to the residents, lack of attention to these and similar issues fuels the community’s belief that “no one else cares,” and contributes to violent crime problems.
Implementation Strategies
The Kansas City team began implementation in spring 2015 with a focus on four main strategies:
- A focused deterrence approach to reduce violent crime as an expansion of NoVA. This strategy targets chronic offenders identified through systemic intelligence gathering. The BCJI team sought to refine implementation of custom notifications, which alert potential violent offenders and victims about the law enforcement consequences of their actions, and potential alternatives.
- Expanded conflict resolution training and mediation in the community, aiming to increase overall community capacity to resolve problems peacefully while enhancing interpersonal connections.
- Supported community-based problem-solving, facilitated by a dedicated organizer using SARA (scan, analyze, respond, assess) principles to guide community action.
- Enhanced restorative justice implemented through Neighborhood Accountability Boards which bring community members and trained police officers together to discuss issues.
The Kansas City team’s work contributed to a 42-year low in homicides in 2014, one year after the BCJI launch. As violence increased in Kansas City in 2015, the BCJI team retooled its efforts to prevent violence among members of identified criminal networks, by increasing meetings with victims to reduce retaliatory incidents and conducting new “mini call-ins” with people before they returned home from incarceration. BCJI leaders also sought to bolster neighborhood problem-solving, including participating in a Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) training with other BCJI sites in San Antonio.
Also notable is the team’s commitment to engaging youth during implementation. For example, the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office, the Kansas City Mayor’s Office, and the Kansas City Missouri Police Department collaborated to construct a “second chance” program for youth, with unified visions of “stepping forward” and “unity and community.” A cohort of youth have already created six uniquely designed murals and spearheaded communal change through the relationships they have built and skills they have attained. The program, known as Teens in Transition (TNT) has allowed these youths to set an excellent example for teens around the community.
Featuring this Site
- Read how young people in Kansas City are using art to beautify vacant homes
- Read the University of Missouri-Kansas City 2015 report on the impact of Kansas City’s No Violence Alliance
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